I did pretty much everything I could to prepare myself for the next tournament of the 2019 season. Despite being a pretty busy period at work, I found time to hit some balls and even played a round at another course on a Thursday afternoon when I had a chance. Unfortunately, none of that had prepared me for the weather we ultimately experienced the day of the tournament.
Leading up to the tournament, the forecast was good... then bad... then awful... then bad... then awful... then bad again. I made sure to get my rain gear ready for the day, grabbed some extra towels... and did all I could to prepare myself to get wet.
When I arrived at the course... the rain had stopped. The warm-up period was fairly dry, but it was clear that the course was going to be wet. Very, very wet, as it turned out. Just as we were getting set to head out to our holes... it started to rain, and as it began raining again, the temperature dropped... the wind kicked up... and it got pretty ugly. Luckily, the rain got very light as we were ready to tee off and had all but stopped by the time we hit our third hole. Still... the course was a marsh and it made it play much longer.
I believe we had about 100 players total (24 in B Flight)... so I planned for a long, damp day. I set my pre-round goal at 82... but that was before seeing the condition of the course. Once our there, I figured something in the mid-80's would be a great score for me. Beginning an easy hole... I was all set to go and at 11:10, we finally hit our first tee shots.
Hole 14 - Par 4 - 384 Yards
I had drawn a good starting hole again. This is a pretty wide-open tee shot and there is not much trouble in the way. With all that said... I still managed to find the woods up the left side. I had changed my grip to be a little stronger leading up to this event and it resulted in a bit of a pull-draw off this tee.
With the course as damp as it was... lift, clean and place was the only option to get the round in. I found myself taking advantage of that as often as possible. In this particular instance, it was huge. I was pretty dead where my ball had ended up, but I was able to use that one club-length advantage here to give myself a punch-out. I found the fairway with a 6 iron through low gap in the trees and left myself 127 yards to the flag. My 9 iron from that point was dead at the stick but hit the green and came back a few feet.
My par attempt from 13 feet dove low at the last second and I was left with a simple tap in for bogey to start my day.
~ +1 Through 1 ~
Hole 15 - Par 3 - 231 Yards
Having played here several times before, there were a trio of holes I had pegged as 'make-or-break' holes for my round. This was one of them (the others were #10 and #18). Even though it is very much downhill... it was dead into the wind and the pin was pushed all the way to the back of the green. I didn't feel comfortable hitting my 3 wood from where I was so I decided to baby a driver. I think it may be the first time in my life that I've hit a driver from a par 3 tee box, but I can't say for certain. The swing was okay, but I pushed it a little right and it moved that way. We all saw the ball hit the hill to the right and figured it would have stuck there.
When we got up to where the ball should have been... there was nothing to be found. Luckily, one of my playing competitors walked down behind the green where the cartpath runs and found it sitting back there. Again, I used the lift, clean and place option and gave myself a decent lie in the rough. I was still 10-15 feet below the level of the green, so I just played to the right of the stick and was making sure I got the ball on the green.
The ball had landed about 10 feet short of the pin and ran out to 19 feet. It was a fairly straight putt with a little left-to-right break at the cup. I hit it with the perfect speed & line and watched as it dropped for an extremely unlikely par.
~ +1 Through 2 ~
Hole 16 - Par 4 - 411 Yards
At this tee box is where I encountered exactly how wet the course was. As I stepped out of the cart and grabbed my driver, I turned to get on the tee box. My first step from there, I sank ankle-deep in mud. I was now going to be uncomfortable with muddy, wet feet the rest of the round. I used a towel to clean off as much mud as I could before hitting my tee shot, but it was pretty pointless.
The tee shot was solid, but not very long. I believe they had the tees moved up a bit, so that helped, but I still had 170 or so yards to the flag. My 6 iron from the middle of the fairway was mushy and fat so the ball came up well short and right of the green.
My pitch from the rough at that point barely managed to sneak onto the green and left me almost 20 feet for par. My putt from there was a little left of the hole and ran about 3 feet past but I was able to make that coming back for another bogey.
~ +2 Through 3 ~
Hole 17 - Par 5 - 429 Yards
The yardage on this hole is deceiving. Even thought it's only 429 yards on the card... it plays longer due to being uphill. The tee shot, for where I typically hit my shots, is daunting. There is a bunker on the left, inside corner of the dogleg... and another on the right, outside corner. From the tee, it looks like there is nowhere to hit the ball. I did manage to find the fairway here though, and actually left myself only 191 yards to the flag.
The ground was exceptionally wet, and the shot was going to play uphill... but I made the decision that I'd rather be a little short than long. With 191 being the number, it was playing more like 205. That would be a good hybrid number for me if I caught it clean. I pushed it a little and it never got more than hip-high, but it left me on the right side with a good angle to the pin.
From there, I was at about 47 yards. I hit a nice, high 58 degree wedge that settled about 6 feet from the hole. I couldn't decide whether to hit the putt soft or firm... so I compromised and ended up missing just on the low side. It left me a 3 footer for par which I made, but I was a little disappointed in that result.
~ +2 Through 4 ~
Hole 18 - Par 4 - 409 Yards
Coming into this tournament, I figured this would likely be the toughest hole of the day. It's not listed overly long, but it's uphill after the tee shot... the fairway was going to be one of the wettest out there... and it was playing into the wind.
On the tee, I took aim at the fairway bunker up the left side. I figured I'd probably get a little fade off of that and, as long as I found the fairway, I could guarantee nothing worse than bogey. I hit my ball on that line, but I had more fade than I wanted and the wind made it worse. I heard it clip a tree but never saw it come down.
When we got up there, my ball was right at the base of the tree it had clipped. Even with the lift, clean and place rule... I had no real shot to do anything but chip it out of the trees, so I did so with an 8 iron.
I was left with about 170 yards, up the hill and into the wind. The pin was at the back-right corner of the green, so... I just wanted to cover the bunker. I attempted to hit a 5 iron but practically whiffed. The ball was pushed right and trickled into the weeds up the right side of the hole. From there... I was able to get a 9 iron onto the back portion of the green.
When I FINALLY got up to the green, I saw my ball was about 20 feet away. It was a fairly flat putt, and I really wanted to make it for my bogey but it ran over the right edge of the cup and stayed out. That left me a tap-in for double.
~ +4 Through 5 ~
Hole 14 - Par 4 - 373 Yards
This is typically the most difficult hole on the course. It's 373 yards... but it plays like 420 because of how uphill it is. It's also usually into the wind. On this day, it was moved way up... so, it was only playing about 335 yards. It was also downwind. My target line from the tee was a dark patch near the left edge of the fairway. I hit it solid and the ball tailed a bit and finished in the middle of the fairway. I was left with 105 yards, but it was more than a club uphill. The wind helped so I played it just a single club uphill. I hit a smooth pitching wedge that pitched about 10 feet shy of the flag and settled just 4 feet left of the hole.
It's always nice when you've left yourself a straight, 4 footer for birdie. I made it with no issues and tallied my first tournament birdie of 2019!
~ +5 Through 6 ~
Hole 15 - Par 4 - 341 Yards
Another slight dogleg to the right but instead of trees on the corner, there's a pond that runs the entire length of the fairway along the right side and then beyond the green. As with the previous holes that moved to the right... I was pretty comfortable with this tee shot. There's a fairway bunker up the left side, so my target was the right side of that bunker. I was playing for the fade and if I hit it straight, I was going to be fine. I did hit the cut, though... and I found myself in the center of the fairway with about 90 yards to play.
The pin was in a good position toward the front-left portion of the green which meant that the water was out of play unless you hit a very poor shot. I elected to play a low, flighted gap wedge. As had been my tendency with these shots so far on the day, I pulled it just slightly. It was fine though and caught the back of the green leaving me 33 feet for birdie.
My birdie attempt was pretty awful. It was downhill and towards the water, so I really expected it to be fast. Instead... I left my putt 5 feet short which meant a quick, ticklish putt for par. I was able to make it and pick up a little momentum.
~ +5 Through 7 ~
Hole 16 - Par 3 - 158 Yards
This is a pretty intimidating hole. There's a massive, deep bunker that fronts the green... and short of that is a pond. The shot is all carry, but not very long. Still... if you let it get to you, you can easily put up a big number on this hole. The green is essentially split in half by a huge ridge. The right side is raised up while the left side drops off a good 7+ feet or so below the level of the upper tier. The pin was kind of on the ridge. From the tee, there appeared to be not way to get it close.
The play for me was to aim at the center part of the lower (left) tier and hope I hit a bit of a fade. Unfortunately, we had a 15 minute wait at this tee. When we arrived, the group in front of us was waiting on the tee for the group in front of them to putt out. By the time we got to play the hole... I stiffened up a little bit and never committed to my shot selection. This meant a low, bladed 7 iron that skipped off the bank of the pond and into the bunker.
Luckily, my bunker game has been getting better and better. I blasted out of there and to about 15 feet. I was very pleased when I finally climbed out of the bunker and saw where my ball finished up. I don't really think I could have come much closer than that. To cap it off... I drained the 15 footer for a sand save par.
~ +5 Through 8 ~
Hole 17 - Par 5 - 472 Yards
If you take the aggressive line up the left side of the hole off the tee, you can easily reach this green in 2 shots. It's uphill from the fairway to the green, but... it's a reachable hole. I did NOT take the aggressive line, however. In fact, I did the exact opposite and bailed out WAY right. My ball finished just in the rough with a tough ball-above-my-feet lie.
Instead of just punching a 5 iron up the fairway 175 yards or so... I tried to bite off a big chunk of the hole with a 3 wood from a tough lie. It did not work out very well for me. I kinda topped and pulled my shot and it trickled up the left side into the rough and left me 145 yards or so up the hill to the flag which was tucked up on a tiny tier at the back-left side of the green.
I elected for more club because of how uphill the shot was and I ended up drawing it a bit with my 7 iron. This put me in a little bowl long and left of the green. I had truly short-sided myself. The only play I had was to try and bump the ball into the slope shy of the green and hope it trickled down towards the hole. I probably landed the ball a foot short of where I needed it to and the ball stuck on the fringe. I was probably 20-25 feet from the hole at that point with a super fast, downhill putt. I just got the ball started and let it get onto the green and watched as it stopped about a half-rotation short of dropping for par. I settled for my tap-in bogey and moved to the 18th tee.
~ +6 Through 9 ~
Hole 18 - Par 4 - 387 Yards
Once more, they moved our tees up quite a bit. I believe we were playing from about 340 yards. This took driver out of my hand since that would have brought some OB into play for me. There's a fairway bunker at the corner of the right-to-left dogleg which was my target. I should have been easily able to carry that and it would have left me a 9 iron or less into the green. I just put another horrible swing on my 3 wood and topped the ball. It trickled out short of that fairway bunker and left me no shot at the hole.
From about 210 yards out, I just played a 5 iron out to the right of the green to give myself a good angle to the back-left pin position. I was left with around 60 yards or so to the hole from there and the green was wide open. Another 'three-quarter' wedge from there was tugged just slightly and grabbed immediately, leaving me just off the green.
The only play I had was a low, running chip which I executed pretty well from the fringe of the green. The ball took a peek at the cup but just missed the lip for par and ran out to about 5 feet. I was able to make that coming back for a bogey. It could have been way worse, so... I wasn't too upset by that score.
~ +7 Through 10 ~
Hole 1 - Par 4 - 370 Yards
This is never a tough hole but they made it even easier on us by moving the tees up to about 340 yards away. There's a fairway bunker up the right side that's not in play from where the tees were and another bunker up the left side that was absolutely in play. I decided to aim off the right corner of the left bunker. I didn't catch the tee shot very solid, but it faded over the right fairway bunker and finished in the rough up the right side leaving me about 125, slightly uphill to the hole.
Even though it was uphill... it was downwind, so it offset. This meant I could give it a solid go with a full 9 iron. A slight pull from that position hit the green and I was positive it was going to trickle off the left side of the green and into the fairly deep hollow leaving a next-to-impossible up and down attempt. Instead, when I arrived... the ball had spun enough that it stayed on the green and left me a fairly easy two-putt for par.
~ +7 Through 11 ~
Hole 2 - Par 4 - 368 Yards
I would say this is one of the more intimidating tee shots on the course. Along the right side is OB and houses. The left side is trees and a deep set of fairway bunkers. A little too far past that on the right side is another fairway bunker. You have very little to aim at. Short hitters like me don't really have the option of hitting a 3 wood or something because then you leave too much into a difficult green.
I elected to hit driver and start it at the right edge of the left bunker. I knew that unless I absolutely mashed one, I wasn't going to reach the right bunker. I hit a very solid drive that landed perfectly in the fairway and left me about 120 or so to a front-right pin.
My right hand was hurting at that time and I had just put some pain relief cream on it... so my grip was a little tentative on the club. Instead of going after a pitching wedge, I chose to hit a smooth 9 iron. It was a little too much club, but I still hit the green. I left a tough, 42 footer for birdie though.
My birdie putt was quick and had a bit of left-to-right break to it. When I first hit it... I thought it was going in. The ball funneled toward the hole and at the last second, it moved back to the left and just missed. An easy little tap in for par.
~ +7 Through 12 ~
Hole 3 - Par 5 - 563 Yards
I don't think this hole played the full yardage. I believe we were moved up to about 530 yards or so instead. I hit one of my weaker tee shots of the day here. Very high off the toe. Luckily, it hung enough that it didn't feed into the fairway bunker up the right. It kicked off the slope of that bunker and into the fairway. Even though I had little confidence in my 3 wood at that time... I knew I needed to hit it to give myself any shot at making birdie or better here. I hit it solid, but the fade was way more than I wanted to see on it. Luckily, it again caught the slope up the right side and trickled down into a flat lie and left me about 130 to the hole.
The hole was a little downwind and the green was slightly raised. With the ball just slightly above my feet... I aimed to the right of the pin expecting a little draw. Instead... I pulled it again. This time... it was a massive pull that resulted in the ball going 15 yards past the flag, way down below the back of the green.
My only play from this position was to try and hit a high pitch that carried just onto the green. I knew once it got on, it was going to release hard. I committed to the shot and executed to perfection. The ball landed just on the green. From there, I could not see it but my playing competitors were yelling for it to slow down. When I got up to the green... the ball was on the front portion about 18 feet away.
Similar to the 15 footer I had drained on #16, this putt was uphill and I knew I could be aggressive with it. From 18 feet, I played it like it was 25 feet and the ball never had a chance to miss. I drained it for an unlikely par to keep my momentum going.
~ +7 Through 13 ~
Hole 4 - Par 3 - 150 Yards
This is a pretty hole and has long been one of my favorite par 3's that we play on the Golfweek Amateur Tour. There's trouble short and left in the form of a creek. Bailing out right is not really an option because of a steep slope that would leave an awkward stance to chip from. This hole is pretty much hit the green... or else.
On this day, the pin was in the back-left portion of the green. From the tee, it was 152 yards to the hole. With the downhill slope, I would say it was playing more like 142 yards. For me, this meant a solid 8 iron. My aiming point on this hole was just to the right of the flag. I'd been hitting a consistent fade for most of the day and I figured a tiny pull would have given me enough room to stay alive... a straight shot would be perfect... and a fade would find the right side of the green.
My swing off this tee was one of my best of the day. The contact was crisp and the flight of the ball was gorgeous. It was high and straight. I was worried initially that I took too much off my swing so I watched intently... but the ball landed a few feet to the right of the flag, hopped once and spun back a bit. When we got up there, the closest-to-the-pin marker listed 9 feet. We measured mine out at 7 feet and 1/2 an inch. As this was towards the end of the day... I was pretty confident it would hold. It did... and I won $120 for that shot!
One of my playing competitors was about 3 feet outside of my ball on a very similar line. His putt drifted very little right-to-left and he sank his 10 footer for birdie. I had the line... I just needed to make a solid stroke on the ball. I did... and watched as it took a hard turn just at the hole to the left and lipped out! I tapped in for what was a disappointing par.
My misfortune turned out very well for my playing competitor though as he won 1 of 3 skins on the day that paid him $190+ for his birdie!
I now had only 4 holes left to play and I was sitting inside the money spots on the leaderboard. The B Flight was paying out the top 5 spots and I was now in 4th place.
~ +7 Through 14 ~
Hole 5 - Par 4 - 389 Yards
Number 5 is the toughest rated hole on the course. The tee shot is tough because if you hit it too far and up the left side, it can run down into a creek at the end of the fairway. If your ball sticks up in the rough up the left, you can be blocked out. The right side brings a lost ball into play. On a calm day, I'd hit 3 wood here every time. It was just a little breezy at this point though... and it was cooling off, so I went with my driver. I picked a spot on the slope up the left side and let the ball peel off of that.
I found a flat-ish lie on this hole which is tough to find. It was still a little below my feet and sloping downhill, but... all-in-all, it wasn't awful. I had 135 yards to the pin which sat on the front-middle portion of the green. 9 iron would have been short and would have brought all kinds of trouble into play. 8 iron was a little too much but was the safer option... so I went with that club. I pured the shot and watched as it went directly at the flag. The ball landed at probably 155 yards or so and spun back about 20 feet towards the hole. Still... I was left with about 30 feet for birdie.
Again, I had the fortune of having a playing competitor on a very similar line to me. Even though the putt looked like it was going to break right-to-left... his putt never really took the break and stayed out to the right of the hole. I decided to play to the right edge of the cup and hit it exactly where I wanted. I was positive the ball was going to drop for birdie, but with about 18 inches to left, the ball trailed a little further left than I thought and just missed what would have been a massive birdie (and would have paid a skin too). I tapped in for my 5th consecutive par.
I believe at this point I had moved up into 3rd place with just 3 holes to go and I was just 2 strokes off the lead with 3 holes to play.
~ +7 Through 15 ~
Hole 6 - Par 5 - 512 Yards
I have never, ever been a fan of this hole. There's a creek at 250 yards from the tee. Basically, if you carry the ball 225 up the left side over the fairway bunker... your ball will find the hazard. This meant I had to hit my 3 wood, which I was struggling with on the day. I took aim at the right edge of that left bunker and peeled my 3 wood off of that and into the center of the fairway.
From here, it should have been an easy hole. I had about 315 yards left to the hole... up the hill. For some reason, I had convinced myself that the best play was to try and hit my 3 wood again and get up to within 120 yards or so of the green. Well... I topped the 3 wood and watched as it trickled into the creek. I then dropped from the penalty area and hit a 5 iron to about 80 yards.
I made a mess of the hole and ultimately recorded a triple bogey. Looking back... the play on my 2nd shot should have been a 4 iron up the right side that would have left me about 145 yards to the hole.
I was dejected by my poor shot selection and suddenly knocked myself completely off the leaderboard with just 2 holes left.
~ +10 Through 16 ~
Hole 7 - Par 3 - 154 Yards
Things simply went from bad to worse at this point. Although there is water on this hole... it shouldn't come into play if you hit a decent shot. I believe the hole was playing 145 yards with where the pin was located, so it was a perfect 8 iron for me. I got up on the tee still thinking about the previous hole and made probably my worst swing of the day. I swiped at the ball and pulled my head up way too quickly. This resulted in a thin, ugly shot that had zero chance of clearing the water.
SPLASH! That was my tournament right there. I hit another from the tee (we weren't using drop zones) and pulled it just a little left. I failed to get up and down a recorded a 2nd consecutive triple bogey.
~ +13 Through 17 ~
Hole 8 - Par 4 - 363 Yards
Now I was just angry. I had a side bet going with my buddy and needed a birdie to break the number we had set (85). I absolutely annihilated the ball from the tee here. The fairway on this hole was wide open so, I knew taking a hard swing wouldn't hurt me unless I sliced it wildly. Game Golf measured it at 280 yards and I was left with 84 yards to the back pin location.
I hit my 54 degree wedge with a pretty close to full swing... but I purposely drove it in low. It landed about 20 feet left of the flag and spun to the right a bit leaving me around 12 feet for my birdie. The left-to-right swinger just barely missed on the high side and I was left with a tap-in for par to close out my round.
~ +13 Through 18 ~
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There really wasn't much to be said at that point. I came into the round having played 5 rounds in 2019. They were all over the map (101, 94, 106, 98 and 86). I had new irons in the bag that I had hit literally the night before at Topgolf and then that morning on the range. I had very low expectations for the day.
To shoot an 85 with a trio of triple bogeys on the day was actually pretty damn impressive. I won't forgive myself anytime soon for the mental error on my 16th hole but... it will be a learning experience.
I finished in a tie for 10th place out of 30 entrants to B Flight. I was 2 shots out of the money. Ultimately, the winner shot an impressive 76. I didn't have a shot to win, but... if I had held my ground on those 2 holes... I would have finished in solo 2nd on the day.
Lessons Learned
1. Hitting the safe shot is ALWAYS going to be better than hitting the aggressive shot unless the situation absolutely calls for aggressive play. I really hurt myself on 3 of the par 5's by trying to bite off more than I needed to. Those 3 holes accounted for being +7 of my +13 score.
2. I need to work on putts inside 8 feet. I missed 4 putts from 5-7 feet on the day. I was too tentative on those strokes. If I had played all of them firm and to the back of the cup... I would have made each of them.
3. My game, despite some pretty awful scoring lately, is still there. I need to make it a focus to get out and practice more often. Work has been busy but I can always find an hour here and there for some practice.
The next tournament is on February 16th. I'm still undecided on if I'm going to play it or not. Until that point, I've got 2 nights of Topgolf League play and hopefully at least 1 round on a course somewhere to prepare. In between... I'll be doing some putting and short game work.
'til the next one...
